RIT graduate Bertin Mboko endures against the odds

4:10 AM,
May 10, 2013

Bertin Mboko, center, came to Rochester in 2007 as a refugee from the Republic of the Congo and will graduate from RIT this month. His family, at its Perinton residence, clockwise from the top: Lydie Mboko, 25, Exaucee Mboko, 11, wife Marie Onanga, Steeve Mboko, 7, grandson Ken Koranteng, 3 (son of Lydie), and Doria Mboko, 11.

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Bertin Mboko will don a cap and gown this month, not only to receive his bachelor's degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, but also to speak at his graduation. When he does, he will share an inspiring tale of survival and perseverance.

"I will tell my fellow students, if you have a dream, always work with tenacity. You have to believe in your dream," said Mboko, who majored in international and global studies and will give his speech at RIT's College of Liberal Arts ceremony on May 18.

Mboko, who is now 42, escaped the civil war that engulfed his homeland, the Republic of the Congo, in ...